Drinking companion Sir: I don't know who Philip Hensher is, fortunately, but as a colleague I did know Louis MacNeice fairly well during the last quarter of his life (Books,...

Over by Christmas? Sir: Spending so long in a small room at Pentonville with the lock on the outside of the door and only two other men for company has affected the memory of...

On our knees Sir: This is a trivial point, but it's begun to irritate. It's odd that, with so many Catholics working at The Spectator, one minor error continues to be...

Imagine his surprise Sir: I recently wrote a letter to your journal expressing the fear that having received a walloping from some very strong-armed Jews, some of your...

L E T T E R S Auntie knows best Sir: It's 18 months since a national newspaper printed a picture of Brian Redhead with the headline 'Does this man cost Britain £50 billion a...

Black and White Sir: My poor powers are quite inadequate to describe my pleasure at reading Auberon Waugh's account of being blackballed from White's Club (Another voicej...

Sir: Auberon Waugh is our greatest satirist I and wit, and worthy of comparison with Jonathan Swift. It is impossible to imagine a more civilised and amusing member of any club...

Old Buffers Sir: With reference to Lord Bethell's article about the Foreign Office's aversion to British subjects wearing foreign medals ('Gong but not forgotten', 18 March) I...

Family quarrel Sir: Since rigorous debate of the issues of our time and open and free inquiry are at the heart of the Acton Institute's purpose, I welcome the spirited piece in...

And finally. . . Sir: Paul Johnson (And another thing, 25 March) could have ended quoting Max Beerbohm: 'You will find my last words in the blue folder on my desk.' Timothy...

Unread, but not forgotten Roy Jenkins MORAL DESPERADO: A LIFE OF THOMAS CARLYLE by Simon Heffer Weidenfeld, £20, pp. 420 C arlyle's name has a surprising continuing...

But did she ever like it? Julie Burchill ANAIS NIN: A BIOGRAPHY by Deirdre Bair Bloomsbury, £20, pp. 592 If the great Mark Bego took only 98 pages to tell the definitive...

Don't like father, can't like son Hugh Trevor-Roper TREASON IN THE BLOOD: ST JOHN PHILBY, KIM PHILBY AND THE SPY CASE OF THE CENTURY by Anthony Cave Brown Robert Hale, £25,...

Exhibitions Celia Paul (Malborough Fine Art, till 28 April) Jenny Franklin (Crane Kalman till 28 April ) Damian O'Brien (Michael Parkin till 28 April) Getting shirtv Giles...

Cinema Dumb and Dumber (12, Selected cinemas) Too thick to come out Mark Steyn Last week, in the Grand Banks Fish War, just as all right-thinking Britons were about to...

Opera Life with an Idiot (London Coliseum) Never to be repeated Charles Osborne A representative of the management apologized to the audience at the London Coliseum for the...

Television An unbiased view Ian Hislop Readers in Scotland should now avert their eyes. I am going to devote the whole of this column to a televised interview with the Prime...

High life Money in the wrong hands Taki About six months ago I wrote about living under a roof owned by the Cadogan estate. It was a long complaint, but a fair one. I say...

Long life A word from Mr Manners Nigel Nicolson Rudeness is easier to define than politeness. Rudeness is jumping queues, ringing off without apology when you get a wrong...

Low life My days with the Krays Jeffrey Bernard I wasn't asked to Ronnie Kray's funeral a Week ago and I suppose that was because I don't possess one of those box-shaped...

Office life Never go on holiday Holly Budd I recently spent a few days with a friend at a modest hotel overlooking the harbour at Villefranche. At least, it's modest in...

SPECTATOR SPORT A marriage of inconvenience Frank Keating BBC TELEVISION had 35 cameras covering London's annual joggers' junket between Greenwich and the Mall on Sunday -and...